23 Apr
2015
23 Apr
'15
3:26 p.m.
Good point Erik. Also, if you travel, different groups can have vastly different cultures.
Some years ago I was asked to call a zesty contra in another state. I assumed they would
want to do a lot of zesty dances and planned accordingly. The food was placed outside the
dance floor in a long hall from the start. After the first dance, which seemed to go well,
everyone disappeared outside to eat and talk just as I was saying "take partners for
the next dance". After a five minutes while I worried that they hadn't liked the
dance I'd called, people drifted back and lined up again and about 10 minutes later I
did the next dance. Same thing. I finally realized that it was their custom to break after
each dance, and relaxed and stopped trying so hard to get them back and lined up. I got
through about four dances in the first half and four in the second, where I had expected
to do more like 11 or 12 total for the time. At the end of the night, people came up and
said, Wow, you really got us through a lot of dances!
Martha
On Apr 22, 2015, at 6:59 PM, Erik Hoffman via Callers wrote:
On the question of paying attention:
A while back, in one of these e-groups, someone pointed out that we contra dancers keep
talking about "community." This post pointed out that we contra dancers go to a
dance, and, often forsaking applause (yet another topic...), run off to find our next
partner and line up for a dance. This posting compared that to country-western dance, or
swing dance, where they would sit around a table and talk, get to know others through
chatting, and not dance every dance, but have other social things happen. It got me to
thinking:
Often, after people have lined up, they talk with each other, their partner, their minor
set, or other people around them. Often callers strive to get everyone to shut-up so they
can start the dance. I've come to believe this time of conversation is the main time
we get to know a little about each other and is thus a "community building
time."
My practice now is to say into the mic in a regular talking voice, "Are you
ready?" If the general banter keeps going on, I wait a couple beats, and say, again,
"Are you ready?" After two to four times of asking the question, someone will
say, "Yes!" Then another might do a loud, "Shhhh!" When people finally
quiet down, I teach the dance.
~erik hoffman
oakland, ca
On 8/4/2014 10:26 AM, barb kirchner via Callers wrote:
sometimes when dancers aren't paying
attention, it's because there are too many other things going on in the hall.
sometimes it's the band warming up or sound checking, but i've seen all kinds of
things going on - bake sales, people on their mobile devices, a group of beginners coming
in who don't yet know dance etiquette, or maybe the dancers are having trouble hearing
you. sometimes musicians talk loudly behind the caller (i'm a musician and a caller)
and it's hard to understand the caller because the chatter can be heard through mics
or pick-ups.
you can't fix some of those things, but you can address retail events in the hall,
cell phones, sound system, etc
are your experienced dancers modelling good dance etiquette? are you teaching
efficiently, or are you spending so much time talking that people lose interest?
sometimes, i just start the walkthru anyway. as soon as people realize that most people
are starting to swing, they get a little more interested :-)
cheers,
barb
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http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2014 13:05:57 -0400
To: maia.mcc(a)gmail.com
CC: callers(a)sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] When the dancers aren't paying attention
From: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
It depends why the dancers aren't paying attention. Are there lots of
experienced dancers, such that the walkthrough isn't really necessary?
Are they ignoring walkthroughs the first time through because they
know there will be a second one? Are they just having a lot of fun
with their friends and prioritizing that above listening to the
caller? How does the dance go once it starts?
A few strategies I might try:
* Not bother with the walkthroughs entirely. If the crowd is ignoring
the walkthroughs because as a whole they don't need them, then just
call the dance. This means only picking dances that can be called
no-walkthrough, but there are still a lot to choose from.
* Give the dancers a bit longer between dances before starting the
walkthrough. If they're chatting with neighbors and catching up, let
them do that for a bit. Then once you start the walkthrough go
quickly.
* Ask the band for rolling starts, where they play music under the
walkthrough. This makes it harder for people to talk and feels more
like dancing. You don't have time to explain complex things, so you
have to give that up, but it's much more forgiving than straight-up
no-walkthrough.
On Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Maia McCormick via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net At Falcon Ridge this weekend, I saw a couple of
different styles of dealing
with that frustrating state of affairs when 50%+ of the hall just isn't
paying attention to the walk-through. I'm curious if you all have any
particular strategies you employ here, thoughts on how to deal with this,
how to get the attention of the hall, etc.
In dance,
Maia
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